Chinese Communist Party Sentenced Cao Baoyu to Prison Just Before He Died of Persecution

1 June 2006

Two days before practitioner Mr. Cao Baoyu died, officials went to the hospital where he was staying and read him his "sentence." At that time Mr. Cao was so thin he was mere skin and bone. His neck was infected in many places, his blood pressure was way below normal, and he was near death.

On April 27th, Mr. Cao passed away. To avoid being held responsible for the murder they had committed, the authorities released a statement saying that Mr. Cao's death was due to natural causes. They then cremated the body on May 1st. They refused to allow the family members to see the body. The family members were paid 30,000 yuan1 as a settlement compensation for his death.

Mr. Cao Baoyu was 57 years old. He lived in Xugexhuang Village, Langfang City, Hebei Province. Because he was both virtuous and skilled, he was very famous in Langfang City in the culinary field. He was steadfast in practising "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and he helped many people start practising Falun Dafa. On July 17th, 1999, party members from Wuqing County Police Department stopped the bus he was riding and arrested him. They "unlawfully sentenced2" him to four years in prison. In Tianjin Prison they tortured him using various methods, from beating to cursing, sleep deprivation, forcing him to sit on the small Tiger Bench3, brainwashing, and other brutalities. But his dedication to the cultivation of Dafa was unshaken. Later an ulcer developed on his neck from the torture. It endangered his life and they released him. He continued to study the Falun Dafa principles and practise the exercises when he returned home, and his injuries eventually completely healed.

On February 5th, 2006, Mr. Cao went to the Xiangjiang City Government offices to ask to have the practitioners that were still in custody set free. He was arrested. While at the Dachuang Detention Centre the police beat him so severely that his teeth were loosened and he had ringing in his ears. He started a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was released on February 13th. A week later, officials using the Communist Party's "two meetings" as an excuse, broke into Mr. Cao 's house around 7 a.m. on February 18th. They arrested him and sent him to Langfang Detention Centre.

During these two months of detention, Mr. Cao was tortured and starved. His neck was badly infected and his face swollen and red. His blood pressure was very low, and his legs were deformed from cramping and contraction. The police officials took him to the Langfang Beida Road Hospital to be force-fed, which caused internal bleeding. He had blood in his urine, and he was vomiting blood. He became incontinent, and his life was at grave risk. When his family members learned of his condition, they went to ask for his release. The police didn't release him but instead sentenced him to five years in prison. When his wife learned that his life was again at risk, she went to see him. However, they refused to let her see him. Instead, they arrested her, and sent her to a brainwashing centre.

On April 27th, 2006, Mr. Cao Baoyu died. His body was in dire condition from the torture he had sustained.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. Illegally arrested: Contrary to what former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who initiated the persecution, and the Chinese Communist Party would like the world to believe, practising Falun Gong is NOT illegal in China. Although the Public Security Department issued an unconstitutional set of restraints on the practice at the onset of the persecution in 1999, no laws have been passed by the only legislative body in China, the People's Congress, banning Falun Gong or granting the police the authority to arrest Falun Gong practitioners for practising the exercises or distributing flyers. For a more complete discussion of the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong, please refer to the article "The Ban on Falun Gong—A Dictator's Whim, Not the Rule of Law". (Variation: "illegally sentenced")

3. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.